Bulldogs hope to stick it to Harvard at ECACs

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Nicole Davis, ES '01, and the rest of the Bulldogs have been out-hustling their competition all season long and hope to continue their winning streak in the ECACs.

If you listen hard enough, you might be able to hear a few whispers around Yale athletic circles.

It appears that an Eli team is having a remarkable season, one that has made some tough memories of last year all but disappear. They play their games on Saturday afternoons, and going into this critical weekend, with only four losses, are looking to make a little more noise. Oh, and don't forget about that big game with Harvard.

Wait--listen a little more closely, because what you're hearing has nothing to do with football. It has everything, however, to do with championships. A championship is exactly what the Yale field hockey team will be striving for as it takes the field this weekend's ECAC tournament, which will crown the top field hockey team in the East.

Seeded second in the four-team field, the Bulldogs face off against the arch rival Crimson in the first round of action. The top seed in the tournament, Rutgers, squares off against Villanova in Saturday's other game, and the championship will be decided on Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, the Elis are thrilled about their postseason opportunity after missing the tournament last year.

"A lot of the players are used to playing in the postseason while in high school," captain Lindsay Hobbs, PC '99, said. "Extending the year after the regular season is pretty common. But not making the tournament last year has made me realize just how big a deal it really is."

Hobbs, a unanimous first-team all-Ivy selection in her first year as a midfielder, has even more reason to be excited about this year's tournament. Due to a scheduling conflict at Rutgers, all games will be played on Yale's home field. Since both Rutgers and Villanova play their home games on turf, Yale's grass surface could be an advantage should the Elis advance to the finals.

"We're thrilled to have the home-field advantage," All-Ivy Honorable Mention Liz Gardner, DC '01, said. "It's nice to play where we are most confident and comfortable, and in front of our home fans."

The Blue has slowly been gaining that confidence back after playing some tough games on turf over the past few weeks. Team members say that even though the team is undefeated in its last three home contests, the squad has not played its best hockey, perhaps due to the readjustment to grass. Yet practices this week seemed to have gotten the players back on track.

"Our basic skills have been getting back to top form," Gardner said. "The coaches have been great about scheduling practices so that we can get our confidence back. At this point, we definitely have the capacity to play our best game of the season on Saturday."

This will be the second meeting of the year between the Bulldogs and the Crimson, with Yale taking the first game 3-2 in overtime in Cambridge. The familiarity with Harvard, and the fact that the teams are such natural rivals, will add something extra to this weekend's game.

"I think it will be a similar game," Hobbs said. "I expect it to be close. We have improved a lot since the first game with them, but I'm sure that they have also."

The Crimson will have a hint of revenge on their minds coming into New Haven, but Harvard head coach Sue Caples said that her team is more focused this week on the tournament as a whole.

"Regardless of the opponent, it's going to be a chance to show how much we've grown as a team," Caples said. "Obviously, I'd be kidding myself if I said that the Harvard-Yale factor doesn't provide us with a little extra motivation, as does the opportunity to play a team that beat us earlier in the season, but I don't think it's our main motivation."

One player who knows the Crimson quite well is Ivy League Rookie of the Year Amanda Walton, SY '02. Walton's twin sister Hilary plays for Harvard, and the two covered, or "marked," each other in the first contest. Yet in the overtime session, with Hilary on the sidelines, Yale's Walton scored the game-winner. She is looking forward to the opportunity to renew the family rivalry.

"My sister and I have been talking about playing against each other since we were in grade school," Walton said. "It's a little strange now that it's come true, but I would say that's it's definitely more exciting than nerve-racking."

And as if this weekend didn't have enough compelling stories for a full season already, add one more: if Yale wins both games and captures the ECAC tournament crown, head coach Marisa Didio will have gained her 200th victory as a college field hockey head coach.

"She's turned the program around in the two years she's been here," Hobbs said. "And it would be fantastic if she could reach such a milestone with us this weekend."

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